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Friday, October 14, 2011

"America, Let It Shine" Quilt by Sherry Reynolds

Yesterday I took my mother to the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX in Santa Clara. If you are only going to see one quilt, I recommend you battle your way to the masterpiece "America, Let It Shine" by Sherry Reynolds. You may have to wait a bit before you can see it in its entirety.

In the mean time, you may start by reading the tag. You will understand that the use of graph paper explains how Reynolds achieved absolute precision and uniformity of symmetry.

You'll be impressed that she used a 20-year-old Bernina 1001 to create the free motion quilt design.

The quilt is steeped with symbolic meaning. The thirteen original colonies are represented in the border's blue rays and red triangles:

The 4,886 Swarovski crystals that embellish this quilt represent the sum of the 4,543 words of the Constituion, 312 words of the Star Spangled Banner, and 31 words of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Reynolds incorporated parts of American history by using parts of the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble of the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.

You will know that her goal to create "a tribute to America, our foundations and values, with the hope that they will guide us to a brighter future" was achieved from top to bottom and front to back.

The show runs through Sunday at the Santa Clara Convention Center. More information here.

That is an absolutely stunning quilt. These types of quilts are real works of art and show much dedication. I have only been to one quilt show and I was totally amazed by the variety and artistry (Quilt Show in Columbus, Oh - http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/search/label/Quilts .) I’d love to go to this one in California, but it’s a bit far. I really enjoyed looking at the quilt and reading your explanations.

Dear Patricia,I agree that the reverse side is every bit as beautiful as the front. Sometimes a quilt will be hung so that both sides of the quilt can be easily seen. This quilt would have been a great choice for that type of display.